When they arrived at the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families contributed toward building the Temple of God on its former site.

Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders -- older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established -- were weeping loudly, and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout.

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel,

The former exiles observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month

because the priests and descendants of Levi had purified themselves together all of them were pure and they killed the Passover lamb for every former exile, for their relatives the priests, and for themselves.